


nothing sweeter than you

by sunnyseulgi



Series: Tender Loving [1]
Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, M/M, Romance, just a lil something sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-08 22:34:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14703834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnyseulgi/pseuds/sunnyseulgi
Summary: There's something about the sunset and the vivid stripes of heat racing beneath his skin that beckon Jaehyun into Jungwoo's side.alternatively: Jaehyun and Jungwoo officially meet as bandmates. Something tender grows.





	nothing sweeter than you

**Author's Note:**

> pls don't mind the cringe title i couldn't think of anything else alkdjlakshd
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Jungwoo joins the NCT U dorm a few months before he officially debuts to the world. 

He’d been training dutifully every day and then some, pushing his body past the limits of a trainee, and into the new world of being an SM idol. He dances before the sun is up and finally throws in the towel when the sun is set well past the horizon. 

Every breath he takes is dedicated to his dream. He overcomes every test, exam, and check in with more vigor than the last, and he knows the coaches and trainers can see his effort because, at the final check-in, he sees the head coach point in his direction with a nod, and a smile when he catches his eyes. 

After class, his dance coach calls him in along with his vocal trainer, and tells him he’s going to debut.

_The next smrookie to join Nct! Kim Jungwoo!_

He doesn’t cry like he thinks he would, but he nods, gives a wobbly smile where his bottom lip juts out and tears only threaten to spill over. But he holds himself together enough for his coaches to laugh and pat him on the back and tell him to go home and get some sleep, and maybe a few burgers. 

He only cries when he gets home and tell his mom the news when they’re hugging and she’s telling him how proud she is of him. The tears keep flowing, but he’s anything but sad.

It’s as glamorous as everyone says; being chosen to debut, being able to walk down the hallways of the company building and having younger trainees greet him in awe while the company idols treat him less like a kid and more like one of them. He thinks it’s akin to finally joining some elite club, which it sort of is. He’s even in a group chat with some of the Exo members. 

He’s finally made it. There’s been a little bit of blood, a whole ton of sweat, and probably even more tears, but, it all pays off.

 

Jungwoo rings the elevator bell from the basement floor. He has two suitcases and a duffel bag, where he’s tried to stuff all the clothes and face masks he’d need for the next few months while he trains and promotes with his new group. 

Speaking of his new group, he faces another challenge: his new team members. Their not complete strangers, not entirely, but he’s only gotten to know Dongyoung and Mark on a personal level, and those two are off filming for a cf. Yukhei and Kun are busy at the company building, so he’s been told they’d move in sometime next week. He knows all the other members, he’s trained with all of them, but they’re not particularly close. 

He doesn’t trust himself to not be awkward. 

The little video intercom sparks to life and a face, small and grainy, appears on the screen.

“Hello?”

Jungwoo stares down at the little camera nervously, unsure if anyone told the members he was arriving that day. But he looks closer at the screen and sees that it was Jaehyun that answered him.

When he first met Jaehyun, he thought the elder looked unreal- way too handsome to be human. He didn’t look like a k-idol; his face was mature and his eyes looked like they held a lot of wisdom. He’d avoided talking to the older man for a couple month after he joined smrookies, purely out of fear, and the other part out of intimidation. The elder danced well, had a honey-like voice, and most of the coaches and trainers who worked with him praised him to no end. He, like many other trainees, were enthralled. 

For a while, Jungwoo was content with just watching the other from outside the practice rooms, sitting on benches by the recording studies just to listen to him sing was enough. But leave it to Jung Jaehyun to approach him first.

Jaehyun had stepped out early, and Jungwoo had been entirely unprepared to be exposed so early in the morning.

But, the elder took it in stride and even went to sit down next to him. Jaehyun took a sip from his water bottle and gave a short sigh, “Practices are way too early.” He grumbles, but Jungwoo sees a smile tug at his lips and laughs along.

“Yeah.”

And within five minutes, Jungwoo had possibly found himself a new friend.

“Hello, it’s Jungwoo. I’m moving in today?” He doesn’t mean to end it as a question, but his nervousness sees through its confines and cracks his voice at the end. He hopes his tone was polite enough, though not too polite because they’re friendly with each other. He tries not to panic when Jaehyun hovers by the screen, presumably in thought. Jungwoo hopes the ground swallows him whole. 

He’d been accepted into SMent. He’d trained with world-class idols and coaches. He's finally debuting. And now he’s going to fall at the hands of his anxiety. 

He adjusts his grip on his bags awkwardly.

“Ah Jungwoo!” Jaehyun smiles, “I couldn’t see your face. They told me you were moving in today. I’ll come down with the elevator and help you up. See you!” 

The screen cuts to back and Jungwoo is alone in the basement again. 

His voice is doing that nervous tilt thing again, where it cracks at every other syllable and he sounds like a prepubescent boy, and his hands are beginning to get sweaty; he has to put his bags down and wipe them on his sweats. He goes over a couple of conversation starters in his head that he’d memorized prior and hopes Jaehyun doesn’t change his mind and think he’s a total loser.

This happened when he met the others for the first time too. It’s not that he’s anti-social, or has difficulty making friends, but he knows he’s a bit odd. His mind tends to drift off mid-conversation, and people say his eyes sometimes glaze over when he daydreams. He can’t help it though.

A few moments later, the elevator light turns on and the doors open. Jaehyun’s emerges from the doors with a warm smile. Jungwoo smiles back, the other idol’s smile placating him just a bit.

Jaehyun steps forward and pulls him into a loose hug, “It’s been a while! Sorry I haven’t called or texted, practice has been busy.” 

Jungwoo wraps his arms around him too, reciprocating the gesture, “It’s fine,” He mumbles beside the other's ear. They’re relatively the same height. “I also couldn’t text either. Training and all.” The last part comes out as a murmur, but Jaehyun’s gives a hum of affirmation. He feels bad that he’s neglected to text any of his friends lately, but they assure him they understand, especially Mark. He hopes Jaehyun feels the same way.

He lingers in the hug for a little while longer. He inhales deeply and notices the older is wearing a nice cologne that doesn’t trigger his allergies. He wants to stay for just a moment longer, pretending that Jaehyun’s choice of cologne was purposeful and was thinking of him. 

He pulls back before it gets awkward though. He steps back and finally takes a good look at his friend, after so long, and realizes his friend looks different from what he remembered.

Jaehyun’s wearing a plain white shirt; it’s a little oversized so he tucks the front into the waistband of his jeans. He’s chosen to go bare-faced today, but his skin is nice and clear. 

Jungwoo then realizes that Jaehyun’s filled out in the time they haven’t seen each other. He remembers a skinnier man with a sharp v-line and mostly bones and skin, wearing clothes that hung off his broad shoulders and shrouded his naturally full frame. 

But now he’s grown out the curves on his waist, and his legs look longer and leaner. His face has matured too, and the difference makes takes Jungwoo by surprise. It’s only been a few months, maybe six, hasn’t it?

He wonders if he’s changed in appearance as well. He’s been told (many times, by Mark, that asshole) that his face looks softer, cottony, and almost childlike, so he thinks he still looks like a twelve-year-old. He doesn’t bother to ask. 

Jaehyun looks at him curiously and tilts his head to the side in question.

He snaps out of his daze. Right.

“Should we head up?” Jaehyun asks, and without waiting for an answer, takes the bag beside him, and pulls it along by the handle. 

Jungwoo nods, and follows suit. 

He thinks it didn’t go too badly, with Jaehyun the one keeping the conversation going while they wait in the elevator. 

 

Jaehyun unlocks the door and shuffles in, suitcase in tow. Jungwoo follows right after. He toes off his shoes and neatly places them on the shoe rack, which has three other rows lined with a variety of other shoes. 

He stands back up and follows Jaehyun into the common area. He looks around; despite having around nine guys in a single dorm, it’s well kept and clutter-free, ignoring Jaehyun’s tossed sweater on the couch. 

The kitchen is big and looks well-stocked, and the common area has a large TV that’s playing a Japanese cartoon. 

Jaehyun places the suitcase by the cove before the hallway, and stuffs his hands into his pockets, leaning against the wall, “The rooming situation is kind of messy right now since a lot of the members are in more than one subunit, but the dorm was made for nine people and there aren’t usually that many who sleep here a night.

“I know that Mark sleeps in the 127 dorm, but you’re also close with Dongyoung. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind rooming with you.” Jungwoo’s only half listening, because the way the sun hit’s Jaehyun’s face gives him an ethereal glow. It looks as if he was painted on the wall, like a creation of art, a work of beauty, unattended, gazed upon by some stranger such as he. 

He nods along, eyes following the haphazard movements of the others hands as he speaks. Perhaps it’s the ambiance or the amount of stress he’d been in, but the yellow haze that seeps into the room runs along the walls surrounding them, soothing him. The anxiety and nervousness leave in one motion, as if he’d washed it off with the late afternoon sunlight, and replaced it with a content type of empty.

He has to suppress an incoming yawn as Jaehyun continues to speak about the general rules of the dorm, roommate mechanics, and other things that fly over Jungwoo’s head. But he’s mastered dozing off with his eyes open, if not attentive.

_Room with Dongyoung, drag Mark back to this dorm so we can have a sleepover, zzzz._

“...eepy?”

Jungwoo looks up- he’d dozed off in the past few seconds and let his head drop. So much for attentive daydreaming. “Hello?”

Jaehyun laughs, good-natured, and takes him by the wrist and leads him to the couches, “Everybody’ll start trickling in during dinner. You can rest and decide where you’re going to sleep then.” 

Jungwoo stands there for a few seconds and stares at Jaehyun who promptly falls back and sinks into the soft cushions behind him. He reaches for the remote on the table and begins flickering through channels on the television. 

Perhaps he’s more tired than he thought, Jungwoo thinks. His body feels light and his eyelids heavy. He pushes the rest of his stuff to the side and sits down beside Jaehyun and feels himself melt into the soft material of the couch. He’s vaguely aware of how close they are- close enough that their shoulders and thighs touch, pressed against each other despite them having ample room to spread out.

Something warm and fuzzy spreads through his stomach at the moment, but he’s too tired to make any sense of it. The soft chatter from the television and Jaehyun’s comforting warmth next to him are too much to handle, and he feels his eyes close. He takes another waft of the others cologne to take with him to his dreams, and he’s out like a light.

 

Jaehyun’s flipping through channels on the television idly, hoping that he didn’t forget to record his favorite anime. Jungwoo had fallen asleep a couple minutes ago, his head falling softly between the crook of his neck and shoulder. 

He’s not particularly close to Jungwoo, but they weren’t strangers either. Hell, they text and talk on the phone, get coffee, and sometimes stop and talk to each other in the hallway. But they’re not as close as Jungwoo is with Dongyoung and Mark.

But he wants to be. He’s had his eye on Jungwoo since the younger became a trainee back in 2014- when he was just a fresh-faced trainee who was excited he got into SMent. 

The younger always has this look on his face- where even if he were to look at you, his eyes were off somewhere nobody knew. Despite that, his face betrayed his emotions more times than not. Jaehyun thinks that what he likes about the younger.

If something was bothering him, you could tell by the slight furrow in his eyebrow and the way he would bite his bottom lip. But no matter how many times he’d ask, there’d be the same answer: “Nothing’s wrong.”

Jaehyun hopes he can look after him in the future. He thinks its cheesy, but he doesn’t want the dark influence of the entertainment industry to taint him. Jungwoo was too naive, innocent- he represented someone that Jaehyun wanted to look after. 

Beside him, Jungwoo shifts, and his arm goes to wrap around Jaehyun’s middle. He presses closer until his entire body is angled towards him.

Jaehyun, with his heart rate spiking, has half a mind to wake the younger up and get him to sleep on something comfier, his bed, for example (he’d tell Haechan to sleep in the Dream dorm if he had to). But as he looks down at Jungwoo’s face- content and blissed out (has his lips always looked that plush? Jaehyun wonders what it’s like to kiss him), but he can’t bring himself to disturb him. 

He tells himself that over and over in his head- he wants Jungwoo to get the rest he deserves. He’s one-hundred percent sure that it has absolutely no reason to do with the fact that he likes having him tucked into his side, cuddling him as if he were the only one in the world. 

Nope, not at all.

**Author's Note:**

> A kudos and comment are always appreciated. Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr:  
> @v-kyungsoo  
> and my nct side blog:  
> @kim-jungpal


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